Women own the night

October is sexual violence awareness month and for the Townsville Women's Centre it culminates in their annual reclaim the night march.

"So it is all about raising awareness and saying 'how come the streets are still are not safe for women' and we want them safe for women and children," says Women's Centre manager Cathy Crawford.

This year James Cook University students have been involved in the organisation of the event following threats on social media toward a female JCU student.

"I suppose all it highlighted is exactly why the march exists is because of those threats to women's safety which are very real because we do know that there is an extraordinarily high number of sexual violence crimes in our community," says Ms Crawford.

Prior to the march women will rally in Strand Park and discuss issues around sexual violence and women's safety.

Men are welcome to attend the rally at 5:30pm but are asked to stand on the sidelines for the march.